The Kaiserslautern Borderland

The study uses the border concept in order to analyze the bi-national encounter resulting from the American military presence in Germany. By presenting the geographical, legal, political, economic and cultural contexts of this German-American borderland, the author shows similarities and differences to conventional international border situations.

The area around the German city of Kaiserslautern or K-Town in American parlance is home to approximately 50,000 Americans who live within the Kaiserslautern Military Community, the largest organized settlement of American citizens outside the U.S.A. This book comprises the first study to use the concept of the border in order to analyze this bi-national encounter of otherwise transatlantic neighbors. Presenting thick descriptions of the geographical, legal, political, economic and cultural contexts of this German-American borderland, the author highlights similarities and differences to conventional international border situations and elucidates the impact of the special temporal and spatial circumstances on the contact region.

Autorentext

Jörg Zorbach studied American Studies, Sociology, and Social Anthropology at the Universities of Mainz (Germany) and Canterbury (United Kingdom).

Klappentext

The area around the German city of Kaiserslautern - or K-Town in American parlance - is home to approximately 50,000 Americans who live within the Kaiserslautern Military Community, the largest organized settlement of American citizens outside the U.S.A. This book comprises the first study to use the concept of the border in order to analyze this bi-national encounter of otherwise transatlantic neighbors. Presenting thick descriptions of the geographical, legal, political, economic and cultural contexts of this German-American borderland, the author highlights similarities and differences to conventional international border situations and elucidates the impact of the special temporal and spatial circumstances on the contact region.

Inhalt
Contents: American military presence in Germany German-American relations Rhineland-Palatinate Kaiserslautern Military Community German-American bi-national contact space Border region Border concept Borderland theory Little America Enclave model Space and place Asymmetry of time.